Rethinking Artificial Intelligence: Algorithmic Bias and Ethical Issues| How Process Experts Enable and Constrain Fairness in AI-Driven Hiring

Authors

  • Ignacio Fernandez Cruz Northwestern University

Keywords:

hiring algorithms, process expertise, fairness, organizational communication

Abstract

Organizations risk losing their competitive edge as they struggle to find and hire qualified talent. Hiring personnel turn to artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help acquire talent, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. Yet despite the best intentions for integrating fair and evidence-based systems, exacerbated levels of bias may occur from using these tools. Drawing from scholarship on process expertise and emerging practices of AI use at work, I provide a case study of 42 high-volume recruiters and uncover how hiring personnel enact and justify unsystematic sourcing practices within the confines of their held expertise, organizational demands, and technology choices. I explain how AI-based hiring decisions in organizations are context dependent and blend the capabilities of algorithmic-powered tools with choices and judgments made by process experts. I conclude by offering theoretical and practical considerations for expertise, hiring, and the integration of algorithms at work.

Author Biography

Ignacio Fernandez Cruz, Northwestern University

Dr. Cruz’s expertise focuses on the areas of AI@Work, the sociotechnical negotiations between algorithms and their users, and bridging bias and inequality within technology design and adoption. His current research applies an ethnographic lens to the study of how experts negotiate robustness and equity when working alongside and with smart technologies and algorithms to make decisions.His scholarship has been featured in various outlets within the areas of communication studies, management, and information studies research. He has won several research awards from the National Communication Association and International Communication Association. Prior to joining Northwestern, Dr. Cruz was a former National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Ronald E. McNair Scholar. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and fellowships from the University of Southern California and University of Texas at Austin.He received his Ph.D. from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.

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Published

2023-12-26

Issue

Vol. 18 (2024)

Section

Special Sections

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